Gaza – Inside the nursery of the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, the child, Muhammad Abu Awad, lies receiving treatment three days after his birth and suffering from congenital deformities of the heart, feet, and brain, which doctors discovered after birth.
The medical team of the nursery inside the complex is struggling to save the life of Muhammad Abu Awad, who was born on September 21, 2024, weighing 2.8 kilograms, but similar cases end in death, according to the treating doctor.
During her pregnancy, Yasmine, the mother of the child Muhammad, did not receive the required health care, including monitoring the months of pregnancy in the clinics of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), as was the case with every pregnancy. She also did not receive stabilizers and nutritional supplements.
During the first months of Muhammad Abu Awad’s mother’s pregnancy, her house in eastern Khan Yunis was subjected to an Israeli missile bombardment, which led to her inhaling black smoke resulting from this bombing.
Yasmine was also exposed, as she told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, to malnutrition like the residents of the Gaza Strip due to the siege imposed by the Israeli occupation army, which prevented the entry of fresh red and white meat, vegetables and fruits into the markets of the Strip, and her food was from the canned goods that her family used to obtain from international institutions.
In addition to the child, Muhammad Abu Awad, the child, Noura Abu Marouf, was born dead from her mother’s womb as a result of congenital brain deformities and a heart hole.
An evaluation of the medical condition of baby Noura Abu Marouf, according to doctors inside Tahrir Hospital in Nasser Medical Complex, indicates that her skull was incomplete and a hole in the heart, which led to her death hours after her birth.
Hanaa, the mother of the child Noura, lived through difficult days during her pregnancy, represented by a bombing near her home last May in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, and the entry of thick smoke into their bedrooms.
Noura Abu Marouf’s mother fled to the Al-Mawasi area with her family more than 7 times, some of them on foot, during the sixth month of her pregnancy with her daughter.
Hanaa did not know that her child had congenital deformities until after she was born by caesarean section, when doctors told her that the cause of her child’s death was that her skull was not complete.
Noticeable increase
During the months of ongoing Israeli war on it since October 7, 2023, the Gaza Strip has witnessed a noticeable increase in the number of children with congenital deformities, according to official statistics we obtained and medical testimonies.
The official statistics reported that 172 cases of newborn babies with deformities and congenital disorders were recorded during the months of June, July and August 2024 in the Nasser Medical Complex alone, 20% of whom died, in addition to a noticeable increase in these cases in the northern Gaza Strip, and the lack of accurate numbers due to The destruction of Al-Shifa Hospital, the collapse of the health and administrative system there, and the cases being distributed to private clinics.
Head of the nursery department at Tahrir Hospital for Women and Maternity at Nasser Medical Complex, Dr. Hatem Dhaheer, confirmed that there is a direct increase in the number of newborns with congenital malformations, especially diseases of the heart, reproductive organs, and lower limbs.
Hatem Dhaheer attributed the increase in cases of congenital malformations among newborns, according to his interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, to the explosive materials that fell on the Gaza Strip, which carry many toxins, in addition to the viruses spread in the Strip, the lack of hygiene, and malnutrition among mothers.
Hatem explained that the continuous increase in cases of congenital malformations among newborns is a new development that requires study by specialists and conducting examinations to reach the main causes of the increase in cases of malformations.
He explained that most cases of children with congenital malformations are fatal, especially since the majority of cases are heart malformations and require surgical operations in the first week after birth, and this is not available in hospitals in the Gaza Strip.
He said, “We lost children with congenital deformities who could have been saved if they had been transferred outside the Gaza Strip.”
Toxic substances
Obstetrician and gynecologist at Nasser Medical Complex, Maher Kawarea, confirmed that there had been a noticeable increase in the number of cases of deformities in children born in the main complex in the southern Gaza Strip.
Speaking to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, Maher said, “There are many reasons for recording birth defects among newborns, most notably the explosives that the Israeli occupation army dropped on the Gaza Strip, and the toxic substances resulting from them.”
He explained that pregnant women in the Gaza Strip suffered from malnutrition and did not receive the necessary food during pregnancy, which led to deformities in their children, in addition to repeated cases of displacement and living in tents.
He considered that pregnant women’s lack of access to clean drinking water, and the spread of diseases and viruses among the displaced, are among the reasons for the increase in cases of congenital malformations among newborns.
According to Maher, the lack of health care, and the lack of pregnant women’s access to nutritional supplements and vitamins during pregnancy are among the reasons why children in their mothers’ wombs suffer from congenital malformations.
Doctor Maher Kawarea dealt with deformities of the brain, heart, and lower limbs of children inside the Nasser Medical Complex.
In the northern Gaza Strip, there is an increase in pre-developed children with congenital malformations, according to the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya.
Speaking to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, Abu Safiya attributes the reasons behind these cases to the lack of health care among pregnant women, which is very important for them, in addition to the absence of foods rich in vitamins and malnutrition.
He explains that some newborns have incomplete lungs, so they are placed in incubators in order to contribute to their treatment and complete development.
It shows that there are high cases of miscarriage among pregnant women due to explosions, fear and displacement, in addition to the occurrence of miscarriages resulting from deformities.
malnutrition
The population of the Gaza Strip in general, and pregnant women in particular, suffered from malnutrition during the ongoing war.
The United Nations Population Fund confirmed that malnutrition in Gaza poses a great danger to pregnant women and newborns, amid an increase in stillbirths and low-weight children who suffer from wasting and delayed growth.
The United Nations Population Fund explained in a post on the “X” platform last July that it is increasingly common for low-weight babies to be born in Gaza.
Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian and Logistics Operations, confirmed that the Gaza Strip is about to witness an explosion in preventable child deaths, which would exacerbate child deaths that are already difficult to bear in Gaza.
“We warned that the Gaza Strip is on the verge of a nutrition crisis,” Chaiban said. “If the conflict does not end, children’s nutrition will continue to decline, which will lead to preventable deaths or health problems that will affect the children of Gaza for the rest of their lives and have potential consequences for generations.” .
Bombing intensity
The Israeli occupation army used different types of missiles and bombs in its bombing of the Gaza Strip, including white phosphorus, according to confirmations from human rights organizations, most notably Human Rights Watch.
Human Rights Watch confirmed that it had verified videos taken on October 10, 2023, showing “multiple air explosions of white phosphorus fired by artillery over the port of Gaza City.”
The organization reviewed the videos and verified that they were filmed in the port of Gaza City, and identified the munitions used in the raid as 155 mm white phosphorus artillery shells that exploded in the air, emitting thick white smoke and the smell of garlic, which are characteristics of white phosphorus.
The United Nations Mine Action Service said that the remnants of war in the Gaza Strip include radioactive materials, white phosphorus, halogens and heavy metals, and that this war could leave a toxic environmental impact and cause “untold damage” to human health.
White phosphorus is a highly toxic chemical that burns in the air, causing severe burns to the skin and eyes. Smoke can also cause eye and respiratory infections, as well as stomach irritation. In extreme cases, it can maim and kill by burning the bones.
The head of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory, Rami Abdo, confirmed that the Israeli occupation army has dropped 70,000 tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.
Speaking to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, Abdo said, “There may be a connection to the increase in the number of cases of congenital malformations of newborns in the Gaza Strip, and the bombs dropped by the occupation on the Strip, but this requires specialists to prove it, and the occupation is working to prevent them from entering the Strip.”
More than Hiroshima
He explained that the destructive power of the explosives dropped on Gaza exceeds what was dropped on Hiroshima, noting that the area of the Japanese city is 900 square kilometers, while the area of the Gaza Strip does not exceed 360 kilometers.
He explained that Israel uses bombs with huge destructive power, some of which range from 150 kilograms to 1,000 kilograms, pointing to the statement of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant that more than 10,000 bombs were dropped on Gaza City alone (its area is 56 kilometers).
He stated that Israel had documented the use of internationally banned weapons in its attacks on the Gaza Strip, especially cluster bombs and phosphorus, which is a waxy toxic substance that reacts quickly with oxygen and causes severe second- and third-degree burns.
He pointed out that the occupation army used explosive bombs with huge destructive effects in populated areas, which represents the most serious threat to civilians in contemporary armed conflicts. This explains the massive scale of destruction in the Gaza Strip and the leveling of entire residential neighborhoods and turning them into rubble and ruin.